The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s by Brad Stone was primarily about the generation gap already beginning to surface. Since technology is moving at an ever-changing pace, each generation has new opportunites and gadgets available to them. Instead of one big generation gap, it is a combination of several smaller ones. People born in the 80's, 90's, and 2000's have many differences among they way they live and perceive the world. For example, one 3 year old thinks all screens are touch screen because she is so used to her father's Iphone. Psychology professor Dr. Larry Rosen says that teenagers today, when texting or emailing, expect an instantaneous response from teachers, friends, and parents and are losing patience skills. He also did studies on multitasking which proved that teens multi-task more but their focus and concentration is limited. Online gaming is also changing the way children socialize; virtual sometimes serves as a substitute for the real thing. Privacy and online safety is another issue that doesn't seem to phase many kids and teens. Maybe in the future everyone will see what they have in common such as devices that control every aspect of one's life and they won't be so different after all.
Born Digital: Chap 13 Synthesis by Palfrey & Gasser
This last chapter was basically a wrap-up of what was discussed earlier in the book and the authors' ideas for solutions to problems in our digital society. Urs Gasser hoped that the Digital Natives that read the book would have a new outlook on their digital world, take advantage of new opportunities, and realize that it will be their job to "shape the future of the Internet". John Palfrey believes that collectively, Digital Natives will use their innovation to solve problems in the future and make the world better. They could be more skilled in the acts of privacy and safety and help each other to be responsible. Creativity would improve and piracy will decrease as many people would be creators and will understand why they should have respect for other's property rights. What Palfrey is most worryed about though are the bad things that happen digitally such as cyberbullying and scams. Hopefully, people learn to care more and work together. One more thing he worries about is the fact that digital technologies are not available to everyone. He hopes digital natives understand that and work to bridge that gap. Next, Gasser gave some suggestions for parents and teachers. They should improve their knowledge of new things and this new age instead of having the attitude of "those damn kids..". Talking to their kids at dinner or in the classroom about how they are using the internet and if anything is bothering about it is helpful, but even better, they should let their kids show them how everything works. Also don't hesitate to give kids rules and boundaries when online. Next, Palfrey mentioned how companies expect a big deal of trust from young people by having them allow the companies to hold and share so much personal info. Companies such as Myspace and Facebook to be exact. Then, Gasser talked about how the law comes into play. "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" was an essay by John Perry Barlow that claimed governments should not interfere and real world laws don't apply to cyberspace. In some cases, it is very hard to find the specific people not doing what they are supposed to do online. However, laws such as data protection laws and copyright laws are necessary and in effect. The main points the authors' wanted us to take away were that the world is changing and in the hands of Digital Natives so we should take all the opportunities and advantages available to us and put it to good use.
What Surprised Me?
The one thing that surprised me was one occasion mentioned in Stone's article about his 2 yr old daughter picking up his Kindle and saying "Daddy's book". It's amazing to see how their idea of the world is so much different than people just 10 years older than them. Even though it is something as simple as a book, that's just the beginning. There will be more generational differences to come. It's similar to how back in the day going to school only meant walking or taking the bus to a school building. Now, it can mean logging into a Webex session online and having a video conference with your class.
Ponder This...
Do you agree with Barlow's argument in his "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" essay? Should the government interfere with the internet?
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The Economic Intelligence Unit's Future of Higher Education Report Summary
The Economic Intelligence Unit conducted surveys and held interviews with students and company workers to see their take on how technology affects education.
Technology provides countless possibilities for educating and learning. It is becoming an integral part of academic life. 60% of people said that the college campus is changing "from a one-dimensional (physical) concept to a multi-dimensional concept (physical and online) one." Examples of the possibilities include online learning, distance education, social networking, and collaboration. With them, students take on a more individualized form of learning. Sam Scalise of Sonoma State University says, "The professor's role is evolving from instructor to mentor." This is true especially with online learning expanding and improving. For example, The Open University of Catalonia in Spain caters to tens of thousands of people worldwide with demanding jobs and families. Instead of a boring lecture to add to their stressful day, the classes are interesting and interactive, with the student in mind. One issue with online courses however is that some people don't view them as having the same credibility of a typical classroom course. This viewpoint may disappear soon though with Hopkins and Stanford offering perfectly credible courses online. Other challenges of advancing technology in education include rising costs, distractions, plagiarism, dependency, and teachers unable to grasp it. 56% of respondents believe that "ready access to online facts and research increases the risk that students are graduating without foundational knowledge in some subjects." Also, 46% of people surveyed believe that US graduates are ill-prepared for the workplace. Amy Lynch says that Generation Y, people born between 1982-2001, are "open to collaboration, [great] at multitasking, & at ease with new technologies." But they have less experience in independent decision making because the act of collaboration is stressed in higher education. Mary Middleton of Merrill Lynch says that generational differences such as hovering parents nowadays affect job acquisition. Despite those negatives, graduates do still bring new ways of handling business to companies, while they learn necessary skills themselves. It's like a give-and-take process. Overall, we need to make the most of the technological opportunities available but not to overdo it. People should still be equipped with the fundamental skills that led to these opportunities in the first place.
What Surprised Me?
When I actually sat down and thought about it, I realized how much of a part technology plays in my life. Professors are becoming more of mentors than instructors and that is not necessarily a bad thing. What ever I want to know about a subject that my professor hasn't taught I can immediately google. They lead us into the right direction but ultimately the internet and other technologies help us with the information we need to know.
Ponder this...
71% of respondents said that online degrees are not as credible as those earned on a campus. What do you think?
Technology provides countless possibilities for educating and learning. It is becoming an integral part of academic life. 60% of people said that the college campus is changing "from a one-dimensional (physical) concept to a multi-dimensional concept (physical and online) one." Examples of the possibilities include online learning, distance education, social networking, and collaboration. With them, students take on a more individualized form of learning. Sam Scalise of Sonoma State University says, "The professor's role is evolving from instructor to mentor." This is true especially with online learning expanding and improving. For example, The Open University of Catalonia in Spain caters to tens of thousands of people worldwide with demanding jobs and families. Instead of a boring lecture to add to their stressful day, the classes are interesting and interactive, with the student in mind. One issue with online courses however is that some people don't view them as having the same credibility of a typical classroom course. This viewpoint may disappear soon though with Hopkins and Stanford offering perfectly credible courses online. Other challenges of advancing technology in education include rising costs, distractions, plagiarism, dependency, and teachers unable to grasp it. 56% of respondents believe that "ready access to online facts and research increases the risk that students are graduating without foundational knowledge in some subjects." Also, 46% of people surveyed believe that US graduates are ill-prepared for the workplace. Amy Lynch says that Generation Y, people born between 1982-2001, are "open to collaboration, [great] at multitasking, & at ease with new technologies." But they have less experience in independent decision making because the act of collaboration is stressed in higher education. Mary Middleton of Merrill Lynch says that generational differences such as hovering parents nowadays affect job acquisition. Despite those negatives, graduates do still bring new ways of handling business to companies, while they learn necessary skills themselves. It's like a give-and-take process. Overall, we need to make the most of the technological opportunities available but not to overdo it. People should still be equipped with the fundamental skills that led to these opportunities in the first place.
What Surprised Me?
When I actually sat down and thought about it, I realized how much of a part technology plays in my life. Professors are becoming more of mentors than instructors and that is not necessarily a bad thing. What ever I want to know about a subject that my professor hasn't taught I can immediately google. They lead us into the right direction but ultimately the internet and other technologies help us with the information we need to know.
Ponder this...
71% of respondents said that online degrees are not as credible as those earned on a campus. What do you think?
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
How Well Do I Multitask (Class Activity Response)
In class today, we took two tests to judge if we were multitaskers or not. One tested our focus: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/06/07/technology/20100607-distraction-filtering-demo.html & the other, our speed in juggling tasks: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/06/07/technology/20100607-task-switching-demo.html. Before I took them, I believed that I was a good multitasker although I am easily distractable. My results however proved otherwise. Surprisingly, in the first test I had a high ability to ignore distractions on the screen making me a low multitasker, which is actually good thing. Then, the second test revealed that I multitask too much and therefore took longer to pick the right answers. The tests contradicted themselves so I'm not really certain if I am a high multitasker or low multitasker. I think the reason that happened was because the second test required more critical thinking than the first test. Maybe if I take them again I will get results that coincide.
Chap 8: Overload & Attached to Technology Article
Summary 1:
Chapter 8 in Born Digital focuses on information overload. The billions of gigabytes produced digitally through blogs, websites, and other services each year is astounding. The overload has resulted in some negative effects in people such as cases of "internet addiction" where several people died after nonstop playing of online games. It has become so serious that a few countries even have "video game rehab" facilities. Despite that, there is still a debate as to whether it is a real addiction. Other negative effects, specifically in children, include increased cholesterol and heart rate, reduced attention span, migraines, restlessness, poor decision making, and more. Also, the ever so common digital methods of communication like texting and chatting can put strains on relationships. Some factors that lead to information overload include the organizational setup of a company or school, the complexity of tasks and information, the never-ending technologies available, and one's skills and motivation. Apparently, it is inevitable so people should learn coping strategies. Some helpful things that people subconsiously do already include printing out the specific information that they need, ignoring information that does not apply to them, and sticking with a small number of familiar websites instead of visiting a bunch daily. Children have been known to "chunk" information which is when they group it into one shape then shrink or enlarge it depending on what is needed. Some of the best methods of finding specific information on the internet are search engines, RSS (Really Simple Syndication), and the recommendation systems on various sites. The one potential problem however with the filtering of information is that people may filter too much information and deprive themselves of varying viewpoints and debates. Ways parents and teachers can help with information overload include talking to their children about it, monitoring their computer usage, and leading by example.
Summary 2:
Kord Campbell, like many people in this digital society, is consumed by technology. Bombarded with emails, IM's, and chats on three monitors, he skipped over an email with a very important million dollar proposition for his career. Luckily he was able to still accept it. Campbell's attachment to technology that provides him with information affects him and his family. Due to excess multitasking, he is seperated at dinner, on vacation, and once he forgot to pick up his children from school. Scientists have found that heavy multitasking has a negative effect on one's focus and ability to determine what information is important. Eyal Ophir did a study to test whether the human brain can process more than one thing at a time. A group of heavy multitaskers and a group of average or non- multitaskers had to look at a screen with red rectangles and focus on which one moved while also ignoring the blue rectangles scattered throughout. The heavy multitaskers struggled with this as they could not filter out the unnecessary blue rectangles. This proves that multitaskers are more receptive to new information. On a different note, studies have shown that internet users and gamers have increased brain activity, reaction time, and sense for details. So there's always going to be a good and bad side to everything.
What Surprised Me?
The one thing I found shocking was the seriousness of internet addiction. The fact that there are rehab centers for it is disturbing. I really wonder how people get to that point and if it is going to become more common in the future.
Ponder This...
What do you think are the benefits rather than the negatives of having countless information readily available to us due to technology?
Chapter 8 in Born Digital focuses on information overload. The billions of gigabytes produced digitally through blogs, websites, and other services each year is astounding. The overload has resulted in some negative effects in people such as cases of "internet addiction" where several people died after nonstop playing of online games. It has become so serious that a few countries even have "video game rehab" facilities. Despite that, there is still a debate as to whether it is a real addiction. Other negative effects, specifically in children, include increased cholesterol and heart rate, reduced attention span, migraines, restlessness, poor decision making, and more. Also, the ever so common digital methods of communication like texting and chatting can put strains on relationships. Some factors that lead to information overload include the organizational setup of a company or school, the complexity of tasks and information, the never-ending technologies available, and one's skills and motivation. Apparently, it is inevitable so people should learn coping strategies. Some helpful things that people subconsiously do already include printing out the specific information that they need, ignoring information that does not apply to them, and sticking with a small number of familiar websites instead of visiting a bunch daily. Children have been known to "chunk" information which is when they group it into one shape then shrink or enlarge it depending on what is needed. Some of the best methods of finding specific information on the internet are search engines, RSS (Really Simple Syndication), and the recommendation systems on various sites. The one potential problem however with the filtering of information is that people may filter too much information and deprive themselves of varying viewpoints and debates. Ways parents and teachers can help with information overload include talking to their children about it, monitoring their computer usage, and leading by example.
Summary 2:
Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price
By Matt RichtelKord Campbell, like many people in this digital society, is consumed by technology. Bombarded with emails, IM's, and chats on three monitors, he skipped over an email with a very important million dollar proposition for his career. Luckily he was able to still accept it. Campbell's attachment to technology that provides him with information affects him and his family. Due to excess multitasking, he is seperated at dinner, on vacation, and once he forgot to pick up his children from school. Scientists have found that heavy multitasking has a negative effect on one's focus and ability to determine what information is important. Eyal Ophir did a study to test whether the human brain can process more than one thing at a time. A group of heavy multitaskers and a group of average or non- multitaskers had to look at a screen with red rectangles and focus on which one moved while also ignoring the blue rectangles scattered throughout. The heavy multitaskers struggled with this as they could not filter out the unnecessary blue rectangles. This proves that multitaskers are more receptive to new information. On a different note, studies have shown that internet users and gamers have increased brain activity, reaction time, and sense for details. So there's always going to be a good and bad side to everything.
What Surprised Me?
The one thing I found shocking was the seriousness of internet addiction. The fact that there are rehab centers for it is disturbing. I really wonder how people get to that point and if it is going to become more common in the future.
Ponder This...
What do you think are the benefits rather than the negatives of having countless information readily available to us due to technology?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Reflection on Comic Activity
In class today we did an activity where we paired up and made a short comic about collective intelligence. I was not sure at first where I would start and neither was Rachel. We had never met before but after a little bit of talking, we were able to come up with some great ideas together. She offered ideas that I had not thought of and vice versa. Working together was very beneficial for this assignment because with our shared ideas we were able to make a decent comic in a few minutes.
Response to Jenkins Blog & Quality Chapter
http://www.henryjenkins.org/2008/02/last_week_my_travels_took.html & Born Digital Chapter 7: Quality
Summary:
The common topics between the blog post and the chapter are the quality and validity of shared information. In Jenkin's blog, he recounts his experience at the Educause Learning Initiative conference which was about incorporating technology into college education. An important report given, called the 2008 Horizon Report, listed many technologies that are soon going to play a big part of teaching, learning, and creative expression. Some included mobile broadband and collective intelligence. Jenkins believes that collective intelligence, knowledge received from big groups of people, is necessary for young people. He gives some positive consequences of using collective intelligence in education. He mentioned that schools have a monopoly over the spread of knowledge and collective intelligence can change that for the better by having people learn from diverse sources not just one main source. There was an activity done to demonstrate collective intelligence where an expert on the topic of Caribbean culture named Julian wrote down all that he knew about it while a group of teens did the same. Of course the lists were different, with Julian's being more organized, but both were good contributions. Jenkin's post was very optimistic, but the chapter seemed to shed a different light on the topic of collective intelligence. It began negatively with an account of how John Seigenthaler Sr. was wrongly accused on Wikipedia of being a part of the Kennedy assassinations. The inaccuracy of Wikipedia, the encyclopedia editable by anyone, led to much controversy. The next thing that was brought up was an incident where during a CBS broadcast, documents were shown from President Bush about him wanting to get treated better than others in the National Guard. Investigation into those documents proved that they were false. Two examples of poor information quality set the tone for this chapter. The purpose was to show the importance of information accuracy because a lot of our choices and thoughts are based on that information. There is a debate on whether online sources such as Wikipedia are less accurate than printed sources such as Britannica. Nature, a highly regarded scientific journal, did an experiment where experts carefully examined some articles in both encyclopedias to test accuracy. Of course, neither were perfect but surprisingly, Wikipedia wasn't trailing too far behind Britannica in accuracy. However, with sites like Wikipedia, such as Youtube and blogs, problems can arise because most of the information is shared by amateurs. At a time where the internet is the people's first choice find information, it would help if the information was correct. Information quality is hard to judge sometimes, though, because of its different contexts. What may help one person in one situation may be completely useless for another.
What Surprised Me?
There were two statements in the chapter that really annoyed me and one was on pg. 161 where it says, "The majority of the population born digital doesn't perceive quality of information as an important issue, it seems." I don't understand what being born in a digital world has anything to do with us wanting accurate information. Everyone would prefer to have the correct info, why wouldn't we? Next was on pg. 162 where it says, "Many young people don't worry about the carcinogenic properties of tobacco, either. . ." That statement is so false. Almost everyone I know does not smoke tobacco and is disgusted by it. If anything it's the older generation with their chewing tobacco and pipes that don't care about the carcinogens in tobacco. I feel like the author made a lot of generalized conclusions about teenagers and it is not the first time in the book that he has done that. It's ironic how the chapter was on information accuracy and those few lines were not in one way accurate.
Ponder This:
Even though many professors look down upon using Wikipedia for research, do you think it is still a good way to start your research before getting into the specific details?
Summary:
The common topics between the blog post and the chapter are the quality and validity of shared information. In Jenkin's blog, he recounts his experience at the Educause Learning Initiative conference which was about incorporating technology into college education. An important report given, called the 2008 Horizon Report, listed many technologies that are soon going to play a big part of teaching, learning, and creative expression. Some included mobile broadband and collective intelligence. Jenkins believes that collective intelligence, knowledge received from big groups of people, is necessary for young people. He gives some positive consequences of using collective intelligence in education. He mentioned that schools have a monopoly over the spread of knowledge and collective intelligence can change that for the better by having people learn from diverse sources not just one main source. There was an activity done to demonstrate collective intelligence where an expert on the topic of Caribbean culture named Julian wrote down all that he knew about it while a group of teens did the same. Of course the lists were different, with Julian's being more organized, but both were good contributions. Jenkin's post was very optimistic, but the chapter seemed to shed a different light on the topic of collective intelligence. It began negatively with an account of how John Seigenthaler Sr. was wrongly accused on Wikipedia of being a part of the Kennedy assassinations. The inaccuracy of Wikipedia, the encyclopedia editable by anyone, led to much controversy. The next thing that was brought up was an incident where during a CBS broadcast, documents were shown from President Bush about him wanting to get treated better than others in the National Guard. Investigation into those documents proved that they were false. Two examples of poor information quality set the tone for this chapter. The purpose was to show the importance of information accuracy because a lot of our choices and thoughts are based on that information. There is a debate on whether online sources such as Wikipedia are less accurate than printed sources such as Britannica. Nature, a highly regarded scientific journal, did an experiment where experts carefully examined some articles in both encyclopedias to test accuracy. Of course, neither were perfect but surprisingly, Wikipedia wasn't trailing too far behind Britannica in accuracy. However, with sites like Wikipedia, such as Youtube and blogs, problems can arise because most of the information is shared by amateurs. At a time where the internet is the people's first choice find information, it would help if the information was correct. Information quality is hard to judge sometimes, though, because of its different contexts. What may help one person in one situation may be completely useless for another.
What Surprised Me?
There were two statements in the chapter that really annoyed me and one was on pg. 161 where it says, "The majority of the population born digital doesn't perceive quality of information as an important issue, it seems." I don't understand what being born in a digital world has anything to do with us wanting accurate information. Everyone would prefer to have the correct info, why wouldn't we? Next was on pg. 162 where it says, "Many young people don't worry about the carcinogenic properties of tobacco, either. . ." That statement is so false. Almost everyone I know does not smoke tobacco and is disgusted by it. If anything it's the older generation with their chewing tobacco and pipes that don't care about the carcinogens in tobacco. I feel like the author made a lot of generalized conclusions about teenagers and it is not the first time in the book that he has done that. It's ironic how the chapter was on information accuracy and those few lines were not in one way accurate.
Ponder This:
Even though many professors look down upon using Wikipedia for research, do you think it is still a good way to start your research before getting into the specific details?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
One Tip for Using PowerPoint Effectively
DON'T BE AFRAID TO GET BOLD AND BIG!
Bold and BIG letters capture people's attention, especially for important facts that you want people to remember. PowerPoints can easily get boring and leave the audience falling asleep because of the repetitive visuals. Switch it UP a bit to keep the audience watching and interested.
Bold and BIG letters capture people's attention, especially for important facts that you want people to remember. PowerPoints can easily get boring and leave the audience falling asleep because of the repetitive visuals. Switch it UP a bit to keep the audience watching and interested.
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